Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/460

440 enjoyed unusual freedom from trouble, considering the discordant elements from which it sprung.

Special mention must be made of a mutiny in 1879 at Tlacotalpan, on the Alvarado River, which gave occasion to a most uniortunate event, causing great excitement at Vera Cruz. A portion of the crew of the war-steamer Trinidad, taking advantage of the absence of the commander, and led by the commanding officer of the artillery, Francisco A. Navarro, who was in concert with some of the inhabitants of Alvarado, seized the vessel and put out to sea in the direction of El Cármen, Campeche. When this was known at Vera Cruz, Luis Mier y Teran, the governor, caused some suspected persons residing in the city to be seized, shot, and buried the same night without form of trial. This gave rise to a storm of indignation. The report sent to the government was to the effect that a mutiny in concert with that on board the Trinidad had taken place at the barracks in Vera Cruz, and that the victims, nine in number, had fallen in the attack. But the relatives of the deceased denied this, and clamored for justice; the press was loud in its denunciations; and the government was compelled to issue orders for the exhumation of the bodies, that they might be submitted to medical examination. Teran interposed every obstacle to delay this action; nor did the government show much more alacrity. On July 13th, however, the corpses were disinterred, and Lore undeniable evidence that the victims had been put to death by military execution. Proceedings were instituted against Teran, who was tried before the grand jury, which on May 18, 1880, declared itself incompetent to pass judgment in the case; It was then referred to the chamber of deputies, which